I knew Robert Kennedy, and Barack Obama is no Robert Kennedy.

Or is he?

Of course, I never met RFK, but at one point in my life I had some hope that the US electoral process might actually lead to a government that worked in the interests of the people, using the vast resources of that machine to put an end to war, racism, and impoverishment of of the masses here and across the planet.

Here are a couple of speeches that gave me such hope:
One to a crowd who were unaware that Martin Luther King had just been assassinated and had simply gathered at the airport to greet him as a candidate: http://www.angelfire.com/pa4/kennedy/speech.html (hit the "Death Of Martin Luther King" link).

Another, in South Africa on racism and such: http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/Speeches/RFK/Day+of+Affirmation+Address+News+Release.htm

Robert Kennedy was not Superman or Jesus or some other imaginary embodiment of perfection incarnate. I knew this. But, for a short period, he gave me the hope that the promise of a living under a government "of, by, and for the people," and one in which simple human decency might prevail, could be possible.

Well, of course that never happened, and that hope died forever.

Or so I thought. Yet now, for the first time since then, I find myself tearing up with that same hope. By all measures I can apply, Obama is even more gullible and bought into the system of existing power relationships (or unaware of them) than RFK. But still, I feel that hope. Maybe change is possible.

Maybe.

Maybe.

The cancer of greed, corruption, imperialism, capitalism has become systemic and destroyed almost the whole planet. Torture, mass murder, slaughter, looting, poisoning every form of life for profit.

But, maybe.

Maybe hope is possible. Maybe change is possible.

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."

The Shawshank Redemption...

And I believe it.

K&R

:hug:

Not that I quit working to make things better. I've always done that, one way or another. A few things with a lasting and demonstrable impact, however small, and other actions that maybe caused a few positive ripples. But that was all done simply because it was right and just, not without a lot of hope that doing the right thing would really make more than a slightly incremental difference.

But this most recent speech reminded me so much of RFK's grasp of and ability to transcend the racial and other divides (a mirror of that), and his delivery, not "handled" or polemical or rabble-rousing, but contemplative and compassionate, really brought back that memory. And that faint sense of hope, that things might become better, that we as a nation could become humane.

In a time when we face Jena La. and ask if this country has really come all that far, we need a man like Obama.

let's hope not if you catch my drift... I'm frankly hoping his neighbor Farrakhan loans him a couple of hundred security guys because I don't trust the Secret Service.

to the hope of your heart.

:applause:

"He not busy being born is busy dying." - Bob Dylan

We'll change as Americans or America will die.

Look at history. There was a time when a black man running for president would be laughed out of the barber shop. Now they're laughing because they can:D

Have hope.

Maybe the best formulation is: Change is inevitable. It's all a question of when it comes and how much pain it may entail. And it always causes somebody pain. But now is the time for it to happen. If not now, then we're done.

conflict always brings about the change and it is inevitable like you said. I know what you mean about the pain of the change. I wonder that too. I think we are in a much better position to accept the change than we were several decades ago. I hope so anyway. One thing that is clear from the many responses I am reading this evening about Obama's speech is we are one divided nation. I thought his speech was outstanding and crystal clear, but when I read that someone "didn't get it' I'm wondering :wtf: planet are you on?

Just like they do to see Obama. I can see the similarities.

BO is a very well read guy, quoting from Faulkner was out of left field. But he seems his own guy and I'd feel less comfortable with people searching for some Kennedy tag he could wear around. Even with JFK's speech writer in the wings. If it's time for a change then change it.

Robert quoted, of all people, an obscure Greek philosopher.

\

Sad to say, Aeschylus was about as obscure then as Faulkner is today. I'll add a sideways plug for Faulkner. Any who have not read him ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Faulkner ), especially "The Sound and the Fury" owe themselves a real treasure of a gift from a great writer.

(edit minor typos)

campaign in LA and was in the room when Bobby was shot...BO is a good guy, and the Kennedy's (some of them) have cast their support. I'm somewhat less interested in portraying BO as a Kennedy as well. But the Faulkner ref was good to hear. There's allot of good stuff out there. And I am thankful bush is illiterate. It would be painful watching him butcher, as a for instance, Tennessee Williams coast to coast :(

Oh yeah - isn't he supporting Obama? :hi:

Anyway, I felt today as I watched Obama speak that it must be as close as I will ever come to knowing in my generation how the generation before me must have felt when they did hear Bobby Kennedy speak....